TWO former health workers from Dorchester are playing key roles at a newly-opened hospital in the Caribbean.

Dr Robyn Barnes and nurse practitioner Nicky Mullins are members of the management team at the multi-million-pound Cheshire Hall Hospital in Providenciales, part of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

They worked together in Dorchester’s casualty department and the old Weymouth and District Hospital’s accident and emergency.

Chief medical officer Dr Barnes, who has also worked in the Cayman Islands, Australia and New Zealand, said: “The new hospital is a fantastic facility.

“Until now, medical care throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands has been very limited, with all serious cases having to be flown off-island to Miami.”

She added: “Obviously life here is very different to Dorchester, but once you are in a treatment room attending to a patient, the job is the same the world over.

“But certainly I wouldn’t be here without the fantastic training I received in Dorset and it just underlines how great the NHS is in the UK.”

Cheshire Hall is a state-of-the-art facility, built and run by Interhealth Canada, serving a population of about 22,000, and it boasts previously unavailable facilities.

Nicky, who works in the emergency department at Cheshire Hall, was a nurse practitioner at Dorset County Hospital and Bridport Community Hospital until February this year.

The daughter of Don and Barbara, who run Broadwey Fish and Chip Shop in Dorchester Road, Weymouth, said: “The last month has seen all hands to the pump getting the place ready.

“It was nice to open and get on with the job we are here to do.

“It really is a wonderful hospital in terms of the services and equipment available.

“Once you’re inside the building you’d be hard pushed to know you weren’t in Dorchester hospital.”

Nicky also paid tribute to the training she received at Dorchester, where both women worked under senior consultant David Caine.

She added: “The big difference here is that when you finish work you can be on the beach in 10 minutes, watching the dolphins and enjoying the sunshine all year round, which is something you can’t do at home.

“I have two young children over here and it’s a fabulous place for them to grow up, although I might think differently during the hurricane season which runs from June to September.”